Gelatin solution

ABSTRACT

A method of preventing soil erosion in, among areas, seaside locations, includes drilling holes in the ground and filling the holes with a mixture of the soil and gelatin, and then curing the mixture in situ to form a barrier against soil erosion.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/541,080, filed Nov. 13, 2014, which is relatedto and claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 61/905,868,filed Nov. 19, 2013, the entirety of which are herein incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of prevention of sand and othersoil erosion, a problem particularly on shorelines and beaches and onethat will become more of an issue given the progress of global warming.Present-day solutions present many disadvantages and bad aftereffects.

BACKGROUND

Soil and beach erosion has become a worldwide problem, but isparticularly serious and sometimes critical on shorelines. Existingmethods of erosion control include so-called “hard” solutions such asriprap walls which are essentially piles of large rocks placed near theshore to prevent soil and sand erosion. Also known are concrete seawallsor piles driven into the soil to hold back existing soil and sand andprevent further erosion.

However, these prior art methods and structures come with manydisadvantages. For example, some of these methods are environmentallyunacceptable today, whereas in the past such methods were commonplace.One example of this is a use of chemically treated piles driven into thesoil. These piles often contain harmful chemicals in order to preventinsect infestation and such chemicals may leach out into the soil andinto the water itself. Furthermore, some other present-day methods andstructures utilized may cause harm to the environment including both tothe sand or soil as well as the water in which they are installed. Manyof the current solutions do not provide an environmentally friendly,biodegradable solution to the problem of soil and sand erosion.

Contrary to the class of “hard” solutions to erosion control there is aclass of methods known as “soft solutions.” These “soft” solutionsinclude biodegradable textiles to stabilize surfaces in combination withreintroduction of native species that reduce the impact of erosiveforces through the natural root structure of plant colonies. Howeverthese methods require a stable environment during the period of timerequired for vegetation growth. These solutions also may include the useof sandbags which are an easy and convenient solution to redirect waterand prevent damage to property. However, sandbags cannot be effectivelyused against wave action or standing water because if piled over twosandbags high they become unstable. Netting is effective for holdingtogether vegetation and large objects such as rocks but small particlessuch as sand can slip right through the netting. Thus, what is desiredto solve this problem is a “soft” technology method in the form of anengineered, environmentally acceptable, biodegradable solution to theproblem of sand and soil erosion that is also economically feasiblegiven the long coastlines that are now affected by erosion. Also, anysolution must be one which can be easily implemented without expensivemachinery and excessive labor costs.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In one aspect, a method of controlling soil erosion is described whichentails: creating a mixture of soil and liquid gelatin; forming a holein the soil; injecting the mixture of soil and gelatin into the hole;and; allowing the mixture of soil and gelatin to cure, thereby forming astabilization wall within the hole.

In another aspect, the soil at issue may be sand.

In another aspect, the mixture of soil and gelatin may be made by mixingsand and gelatin to the extent that the porosity in the soil issubstantially filled with gelatin.

In yet another aspect, the hole may be formed using slurry drillingtechniques.

In another aspect, a plurality of stabilization walls may be formed andplaced seaside to a structure to be protected from erosion and the holeformed may be in the shape of a circular cylinder.

In another aspect, the mixture of soil and gelatin may be injectedthrough a perforated pipe that is placed into the soil, the mixtureexiting the pipe through the perforations to form a structure within thesoil.

In another aspect, a substance to prevent soil erosion includes amixture of soil and gelatin. The gelatin, when mixed with the soil, mayoccupy substantially all the porosity of the soil. The soil may be sand.

In another aspect, a system is disclosed to prevent soil erosion andincludes one or more holes formed in the soil, the one or more holesbeing substantially filled with a mixture of the soil and gelatin; theone or substantially filled holes situated on the seaside of a structureto be protected against erosion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the process of forming a hole in soil which includesa mixture of soil and gelatin.

FIG. 2 illustrates the positioning or a plurality of holes filled with amixture of soil and gelatin places seaside with respect to a structureto be protected.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Ideally, any solution to the sand and soil erosion problem would entailthe use of relatively inexpensive materials that can be delivered easilyto the sometimes distant and not readily accessible shorelines.

Some of the desirable attributes of a solution include the use ofmaterial which is: elastic, adhesive, non-toxic and biodegradable. Otherattributes of a desirable material are: elasticity; adhesivityattributes; non-toxicity; biodegradability; low cost; can be installedwith conventional methodologies; ability to polymerize in situ;resiliency; and stability.

One material which meets the requirements set forth above is gelatin.Gelatin, of course, is a known material for many purposes including asan ingredient in foodstuffs. One solution would be to mix soil or sandwith gelatin in either a dry or liquid form, and then introduce themixture into the sand or soil to provide stabilization for the sand ofsoil. Gelatin may be an ideal solution in that it is water-soluble,non-toxic, environmentally safe, and certainly less costly given thatgelatin is a protein material which is sourced from body parts includingskin and bones of animals and is in fact a byproduct of the meatproduction process. U.S. Publication Number 2002/0026994 is directed tothe use of gelatin-coated sand to make molds for manufacturing products,but has no disclosure of such product being used for beach or soilerosion. U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,755 is directed to sand sculptures whereinsand is mixed with at least one non-toxic cold water—soluble adhesiveagent selected from a group consisting of free gelatinized starches,chemically modified starches and chemically modified celluloses.Heretofore, however, there is no suggestion of using gelatinized sand orsoil as an anchoring material to prevent sand and soil erosion.

It has been discovered that sand mixed with gelatin has the potential toprevent erosion. A brief synopsis of a method to form what we termsand/gelatin column is as follows: Gelatin, it appears, may be an idealmaterial for mixing with sand to prevent sand erosion on beaches. Sandand many soils, contrary to what one might normally think, have a highratio of air to solids. For example, sand may have an air content ofbetween 25% and 50%, making sand highly porous. This highly porousattribute allows for the in situ insertion and mixing and finallybinding of gelatin to the sand or soil or soil particles feasible. Afterthe investigation into the range of porosity values of various mineralmaterials it was discovered that sand and silt are relatively veryporous, making them ideal materials with which to be mixed with gelatin.

The relative ratio of sand or soil to gelatin varies greatly, dependingon the porosity of the sand or soil material, the particular formulationof gelatin utilized, and among other things desired rigidity of theresulting gelatin/sand mixture. In one embodiment, the desire is tosubstantially fill or occupy the porosity voids in the material, heresand, with the gelatin mixture. The developers of this novel applicationof gelatin to the problem of erosion control have found that saturationof the pore space with the highest viscosity gelatin solution that canflow into the given natural porous media provides the greatest strengthand durability in the final mixture once it has set. The viscosity ofthe gelatin solution is determined by the proportion of water to gelatinin the mixing vessel. The ideal gelatin to water ratio for a given insitu application is best determined by removing a core sample similar toother soil testing methods and preparing samples of gelatin solution toporous media with varying concentrations of gelatin solution in order tooptimize flow into the pore space. The strength and durability of thesand/gelatin mixtures may also be enhanced by admixtures of carefullyselected biodegradable fibers at an appropriate size scale to maintainthe ideal viscosity of the gelatin solution. Candidates currently underconsideration include cellulose based fibers that can either benaturally occurring from plant materials or common synthetically derivedfibers such as Rayon and Tencel®.

These sand/gelatin mixtures may be installed into the ground in anynumber of ways. One exemplary way is to sink a perforated well casing toa desired depth within the sand with conventional methods. In a nextstep, liquid or semi liquid gelatin under pressure is forced into thepipe under pressure The gelatin under pressure will exit through theperforations in the pipe and saturate the surrounding sand. The extentof saturation can be controlled by the gelatin solution viscosity, theamount of pressure applied to the gelatin, the number of perforations inthe pipe, and the time duration of the application of gelatin underpressure to the sand. It is expected that, with this apparatus andmethodology, the mixture of sand and gelatin would form a more or lesssolid cylinder structure. Before or when the sand and gelatin mixturehas cured, the perforated well casing may be removed and either moved tothe next desired position or be left in place to allow for futureamelioration erosion by renewing the supply of gelatin and sand mixturemoved to the next position to create another sand and gelatin solidcylindrical structure. Or alternatively a “well field” of perforatedcasings may be installed and reused as the gelatin biodegrades overtime.

Another embodiment of an apparatus and method which may be used andillustrated in FIG. 1 would borrow from the technology of slurry wallproduction and would involve using a cylindrical or hexagonal slurrywall type drill apparatus that would have attached to it a source ofliquid or semi liquid gelatin. In operation, as the drill is forced intothe sand and progresses to a desired depth, the sand would bemechanically mixed by the drill apparatus. The addition of the gelatinto the now mixing sand would cause saturation of the sand with thegelatin. The drill may then be reversed in direction and exit the nowfilled hole it had created leaving the gelatin to cure and form a solidcylindrical structure made of sand and gelatin. Multiple cylinders ofgelatin mixture installed “seaside” to a structure to be protected isshown in FIG. 2.

In yet another embodiment, a biodegradable pipe of suitable material andsuitable diameter may be sunk into the sand, the sand excavated from theinterior of the pipe, mixed with gelatin and then reinserted into theinterior of the pipe or even mixed in situ. Even after the pipe hasdegraded over time, the sand and gelatin mixture which is now solidifiedwould be useful in preventing erosion.

Turning to FIG. 2 once again, this figure illustrates one possibleembodiment in the application of the present invention to a beacherosion problem. As can be seen by reviewing FIG. 2, between thestructure and the water a number of columns of a mixture of sand andgelatin have been placed as a barrier between the structure and thewater. In the FIG. 2, eight of such columns are shown but any number,depth or width of sand/gelatin columns may be utilized depending on theextent of erosion, the depth of the sand, and other relevant factors.

Thus, we are presented herein improvements to the problem of soil andsand erosion using materials and apparatus that are environmentallyfriendly, that are biodegradable, and low in cost inasmuch as thematerials for binding the sand or largely byproducts of the foodindustry. While the context of the present invention has been describedin connection with erosion due to the action of water on a shoreline, itis to be understood that the techniques herein described may be used inany environment in which the desire is the prevent soil erosion. Also,it is to be understood that while the word “hole” or “holes” is usedherein, the disclosure includes any form of depression in the soil,regardless of the depth or width and regardless of any orientation orshape. For example, while FIGS. 1 and 2 show vertically orientedcylinders, the shape may be polygonal ad the orientation may behorizontal to the soil surface or even at an angle to the soil surfaceother than 90 degrees as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

What we claim is:
 1. A method of controlling soil erosion comprising:creating a mixture of soil and liquid gelatin; forming a hole in thesoil; injecting the mixture of soil and gelatin into the hole; and;allowing the mixture of soil and gelatin to cure, thereby forming astabilization wall within the hole.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein thesoil is sand.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the mixture of soil andgelatin is made by mixing sand and gelatin to the extent that theporosity in the soil is substantially filled with gelatin.
 4. The methodof claim 1 wherein the hole is formed using slurry drilling techniques.5. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of stabilization walls areformed and placed seaside to a structure to be protected from erosion.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the hole formed is in the shape of acircular cylinder.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the mixture of soiland gelatin is injected through a perforated pipe that is placed intothe soil, the mixture exiting the pipe through the perforations to forma structure within the soil.
 8. A substance to prevent soil erosioncomprising a mixture of soil and gelatin, wherein the gelatin, whenmixed with the soil, occupies substantially all the porosity of thesoil.
 9. The substance of claim 8 wherein the soil is sand.
 10. A systemto prevent soil erosion, comprising: one or more holes formed in thesoil, the one or more holes being substantially filled with a mixture ofthe soil and gelatin; the one or substantially filled holes situated onthe seaside of a structure to be protected against erosion.